Railway braking apparatus



July 26, 1932. H. L. BONE 1,868,517

RAILWAY BRAKING APPARATUS Filed April 8, v1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 26, 1932. H, BONE 1,868,517

RAILWAY BRAKING APPARATUS Filed April 8, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Patented July 26, 1932 UNITE'DS-TATES PATENT OFFIC HERBERT L. BONE, or' sWIssVALE, PEN-NSYLVANA, AssIGNOR To THE UN/ION SWITCH e SIGNAL COMPANY,l or swlssvALE', PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION or PENN- SYLVANIA u Application' led .April 8,

vMy V`invention relates to railway "braking apparatus', and particularly to apparatus of the type comprising braking bars located` in the trackway and arranged to be moved at times into engagement with the wheels of a railwaycar. f

I will describe onev fornfi of apparatus enibodyingmyinvention, and will then ypoint out the novel features thereof in claims. il) In the accompanying drawings, Figi is" a top plan View showing oneform of braking apparatus embodying my# invention with some 'of the parts broken away to illustrate the construction. Fig. .2 is a view partly in i elevation and partly section substantially along thelines IIe-II of Fig. l. Fig. 13 is aview partly in elevation and p artlyin Section .substantially along. the lineIII-III of F ig'.Y

y l. Figs. 4 and 5 are sectional viewsshowing Y l0 portions of the apparatus illustratedin Fig. i on a somewhat largerscale. Fig. ti is a lefthand end view of the'guide railG illustratedI in Fig. l. .y i Similar reference charactersrefer to Ysimi- 31'! lar parts in each of the several views. f

' Referring VIirstto Figs. 1,2 and'ffthe refera ence characters l and ladesignate the track rails of a stretch of railway track, supported by rail supports 2 secured to the usual crossf ties 3, and Overwhich traflicnO'rI-nally moves in the direction indicated by the arrow. EX- tending parallelY with rail l are two pairs of stringers, one pair 4 andl being located onone side of the track rail, and the other pair 6 and 7 being located onthe other side of the track rail, as best seen in Fig. 1. The two airs of strinOers are connected to ether' atV` intervals by meansof yokes, each designatedv by the reference character 8, and each extending transversely beneathy the track rail andhaving one end interposed between stringers 4 land 5 and the other end between stringers 6 and 7. The stringers are securely fastened to `the yokes by means of suitable bolts or rivets, and it will therefore plain that the four stringers 4,l 6 and 7, together with the yokes 8 form a cradle forvsupporting thel braking apparatus. In similar manner, rail la is provided with a cradle made up of four w RAILWAY BRAiIINey APPARATUS 1930. Serial No. 442,509.

stringers 4a, 5a, 6a and 7, yokes 8a.

y Located between the stringers 4 and 5 and the rail. 1- is a brak-ing bar B, and located between the stringers 6 and 7 and the rail l is a braking' bar C. In similar manner', 1O- cated between the stringers 4il and 5a andthe rail l* is a braking bar B, and located between the stringers-a and 7 a and the rail l@L is a braking bar Ca. Each of these braking bars ismade up of a plurality of brake beams 9, which as here shown, are connected together by means of a replaceable brake shoe D. The brake shoes D may be constructed ofa single piece of .slightly fiexible material which extends the whole length of the retarder, asV illustrated in connection with braking bar B, or they` may be constructed of a plurality of flexible sections 15, as illustrated inV connection with braking bar C. lVhen the brake shoes are constructed in sections, the abutting ends of the shoes preferably will be located near the center of a brake beam and will be securely fastened to the 'brake beam, so that there is no chance of any misalignnient which would result in shock to the retarder or the car as a car wheel passesjf-rom onebrake shoe section to the next. Then the brake beams are connected together in this manner, the ends of adjacent beams may be made straight, with clearance` between thennas illustrated in connection with braking bar C, or each beam may be provided at one end with a vertical tongue 9a which enters avertical groove 9b in the confronting end of the adjacent beam, asillus'trated in connection with braking bar B. With this articulated construction, alarge part ofthe strain to which the brake shoes are subjected when a car wheel passes from one brake beam to the next is taken up by the tongues and grooves.

As best seen i'n- Figs. 4 and 5, each brake beam 9 rests directly on the associated yoke 8 or 8a, andis provided with a plurality of downwardly extending projections 10, one of which is located .on each side ofeach yoke'. Secured to these projections at each yoke in any suitable manner, as by cap screw 11, and extending through a suitable opening 13 in and a `plurality of i thel associated yoke, is a hold down bar 12.

A wearingplate 14 is fastened to each yoke VV8 Yat the upper part of each opening 13 by however, to permita slightV amount of tip ping of the brake beams during engagement of thebraking bars with a car wheel in order that the braking bars may engage the car wheels ata higher point, and therefore a more Veffective, point, than-would be the case if this tiltingdid not take place; and, in order to permit'this tipping, a slight amount ofclearance is provided between the hold down bars and the wearing plates, the amount ofl this clearance accurately determining the amount of tipping of the braking bars as will be` apparent from vanv inspection of the drawings. One advantage of this method of preventing vertical displacementof the brak down bars are easily accessible when the I braking bars are moved away from the track ing bars is that the wearing plates and hold rails, so that when these parts become Vworn out, they maybe quickly replaced.

Pivotally supported in the trackway are' vtwo cranks 16'and17.AV The crank 16 carriesl a pin 20, onwhichl is journaled a driving link 21, theV free end ofwhch is provided with an upstandi'ng post 23 which entersa suitable socket 24 in van intermediate beam 9 of braking bar B, as best. seenA in Figsfl and 4. In

similar manner, the crank 17 carries a pin 25 on Awhich'is journaled a driving link-'26, the free end of which is provided withan upstanding post 27 which enters a suitable socket24 in an intermediate beam 9" of braking l ing bar areall connected together bar C. Y Since the brake beams 9 of each brake by means of the associatedbrake shoes D, it'will 'be apparent that if the crank 16 is rotated 'in a clockwise'directionand the crank 17 ina counter-clockwise direction, thebraking bars VBy and C will'both be moved towards the left, but that, if the crank l16 is'rotated in a counter-clockwise direction and the crank 17 ina clockwise direction, the braking bars B and C will then both be moved towards the right. The free arms of the cranks 16 and 17 are .intended to'be connected, by means of ylinks, 18, with suitable operating lmechanism for rotating the crank simultaneously in vop- Y posite directions, vsuch for example,1as the operating mechanismshown and described in 'my cop'ending application for Letters Patent Y of the United States, Serial No.1307,895,'f1led September 24, 1928, Yfor railway braking apparatus.V This -Voperat'ing mechanism isv omltted'from the drawings because -it forms' no part of my present invention.V f The brak-V ing bars and Cala-re operated `by cranksand driving links which are not shown in the drawings, but which are similar to those described in connection with the braking bars Y B and C, these latter cranks being connected with the cranks 16 and 17 by means of links 28 and 29, respectively.

l Pivotally supported between each pair of rstringers are a plurality of trunnions each designated lby the reference character E. Eachy trunni'on E is connected by means of a .resilient linkF with the adjacent brakingbar,

the links F being so disposed that when the braking bars are moved to the left, the links will rotate toward the associated track rail, thereby moving all ofthe braking bars toward the track rails and into effective or braking positions in which they `will frictionally engage the wheels of'a car passing through the braking' apparatus. The trunnions E and resilient links F may have any suitable form, and may for example, be similar to the trunnions D and links Gr described and claimed inV my copending application referred to hereinbefore.l Certain of the trunnions E and links F have been omitted from Fig. 1 to simplify the dra-wings.

In the operation of braking apparatus of the type described,it mayhappen under some conditions that the wheelsof a car upon being engagedby the braking bars, are lifted off of the track rails, and ride up on top of the braking bars.v When this occurs, it is desirable to guide the wheels of the car back onto the rails at thev leaving end of the retarder, in order to prevent the wheels of the car from dropping down into the trackway and damaging the car and lading, or the, apparatus located inthe trackway, or both. For this purpose, lI provide two guide vrails G and H t casting SO'which is supported by theties, and which is secured tothe ties by means of bolts or lag screws which pass through suitable lugs 30e-formed integral'with the casting (see Figs. 2 and 6). As 'here shown, each. casting 30 is provided with a substantially horizontal surfaced()ar (seeFig. 6') which is located below the tops of the rails a distance lwhich is slight-ly less-thanthe depth of a car wheel flange, and witha .substantially vertical surface 30h which ent-ends above the tops of the rails and which is inclined towards the associated rail from a point adjacent the leaving end of the adjacent braking bar, sufcient clearance maintained at the nearest poi-nt of' this surface to the rail to in -the form here shown each comprises a permit. v,the passageof a'car wheel flange bevertical surface C which 4curves towards the rail from a point beyond the leaving end of the retarder, this surface serving as a guide ter the wheels oicars or locomotives moving through the retarder inthe opposite direction 4from thenornial .direction of tratlic through `the retarder. Furthermore, the casting 30 has ajpoitionv cut away at 30] betweenthe two vertical surtacesBOh and 30 to ,a depth which is just below the top of the rail in order -to permit the passage 'of wi le locomotive driving wheels through the retarder.

l/Vhen-the car wheels of a car are raised from the track rails by the braking bars there are several positions which rthe wheels may take with rela4 ion to the braking bars and to Vthe rails. For example, when the braking barsare in theirbraking positions, the tread of one wheel may ride on top ot braking bar i3, and the tread oil the, other `wheel may ride on top of braking bar Ba; or the tread of one wheel may ride on top of an outside braking bar B or Ba, .while the tread.. of the other wheel remains on its track rail or, again, when the braking bars are in either their braking or non-braking positions, the tread of one wheel may ride on top of an outside braking bar such as B and the flange of the other wheel on top of an inside braking bar such as Ca. Y f

In explaining the operation of the guide rails, I will assume that the wheels of a car occupy the positions last mentioned above. Under these conditions, as the car wheels approach theend of the retarder, the flange oin Lthe wheel which has been riding on braking bar Ca rolls from the end ot this bar onto sur face 3()a of guide rail H. kAs it continues its forward motion, the flange of the wheel on guide rail H engages the vertical surface 30", which surface guides it back to its properposition with respect to rail la, The other wheel, which in the meantime has had its tread riding on braking bar B. is urged b v the guiding eti'ect imposed on the other wheel, first to the position in which its flange drops on top of rail l and, finally. to thel position where its tread drops in place on rail l. The operation of the guide rails for the other :positions ot the car wheels pointed out above is similar to that described, aud will be readily understood from an inspection of the drawings.

It should be pointed out that, since7 as 1 here shown, the two brakeibeams which are located between the track rails at the leaving end of the retarder are made shorter than the corresponding beams on the outside of the rails to provide room for theguide rails, the beams on the outside oi" the guide rails inaddition to performing their normal breaking function also serve to su port the wheels of derailed oars while the cars are being guided back onto the rails by the guide rails. T his construction, however, is not .essential to my invention.

it should also be pointed out that with the guide rails construct-ed and arranged in the manner shown and described, it is impossible ttor the guide rails to engage dragging equipment on the cars damage either the cars or the guide rails.

@ne advantage of railway braking appa-ratus embodying my inven tion is -that since the brake beams or each braking bar are connected together by means of the brake shoes inthe manner described, inisalignment of the brake beams is positively prevented and a smooth braking action is insured.

noti er advantage of railway braking apparatus embodying my invention is that since the opposed ends of adjacent brake shoe sections are fastened to the same brake beam, there is no tendency to chip the wheels of a car, or to cause shock to the retarder, when a car wheel is passing from one shoe section te the next.

A further advantage of railway braking apparatus embodying my invention is that the number parts required to drive the braking' bars is reduced to a minimum, thereby reducino` to a minimum the friction losses, and hence the power required to operate the retarder.

Although l have herein shown and described only one form ot railway braking apparatus embodying my invention, it is understood that various changes and modilications may be made therein vwithin the scope ot the appended claims without departing from the` spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

lz Railway braking apparatus comprising a fined yoke extending transversely beneath a track rail and proiv'ided with an opening, a brake beam supported b*7 said yoke and movable parallel with and transversely with respect to said track rail, and a hold down bar extending through the opening in said yoke and secured to said brake beam for limiting vertical displacement of said brake beam.

2. Railway breaking apparatus comprising a plurality of fixed yokes extending transversely beneath a track rail and each rovided with an opening, a brake beam .upported by said yokes and movable parallel with and transversely with respect to said 'track rail, and a plurality of hold down one extending through the opening in each yoke and each secured to said brake beam for limiting the amount of vertical displacement et said brake beam.

3. Railway braking apparatus comprising a fixed yoke extending transversely beneath a track rail and provided with an opening, a wearing plate secured to said yoke at the j) PU top 'of said opening, a movable brake beam supported by said yoke, and a hold down bar extending through said opening and secured to said brake beam in suoli manner that said '5 hold down bar willengage said wearing plate when said brake beam is moved toward said track rail into a braking position thereby preventingV vertical displacement of said brake beam. 1 Y

4. Railway braking apparatus comprisingl Va plurality of fixed yokes extending transversely beneath a track rail and each provided with two openings, one located `on each side of said track rail, a plurality of wearing plates one secured to each yoke at the top of each opening, two brake beams supported by said yokes and one located on each side of vsaid track rail, said brakebeamsbeing movable parallel with and transversely with n respect to said track rail, and a plurality of hold down bars one extending throughthe Y opening in eachyoke and secured to an asso! ciatedv one of said brake beams in such manner that said hold down bars will engage said wearing plate when said vbrake beams are moved toward the track rail into braking positions and prevent vertical displacement of said brake beams.

"5. Railway braking apparatus comprising aplurality of liXed lyokes extending transversely beneath atrack rail andv each provided with an opening, a brake beam supported by said yokes'a-nd provided with a i socket, a member movable transversely of the track rail, a driving llink connected with said member and provided vwith a post which en` ters said socket, whereby said brake beam is moved in directions parallel with said track o rail in response to movement of said member,

means effective when said brake beam is moved parallel with said track rail in one direction for moving said brake beam toward said track rail into a braking position, and

a plurality of hold down bars one extending through the opening in each yoke and each secured to said beam for preventing vertical displacement of said beam when said beam is in its braking position.

6.` Railway braking apparatus comprising a 'braking bar located in the trackway adjacent atrack rail, said braking bar comprising a plurality of aligned brake beams, means operatively connected with one of said brake Y beams for atA times moving said brakeY beam parallel with said track rail in one direction,

a brake shoe connected with all of said brakeV beams in such manner that movementoii said one beam causes corresponding movements of all of said beams,l and means eiiective when track rail-in said onedirection for moving saidv beams toward said trackrail.

7. Railwaybraking apparatus comprising a .y braking bar made up of a plurality of aligned brakebeams located inthe trackway adjacent said brake beams are moved parallel with said a track rail and movable parallel with and transversely with respect to said track rail, ineans operatively connected with one of said brake beams -or at times moving said one brake beam in directions parallel tothe track rail, a brake shoeconnected lwith all of said brake beams for transmitting motion from said'one brake'beam to the other brakebeams and for engaging a car wheel when said brake beams are moved toward the'track rail, and means connected with said brakebeams for moving said beams toward the track rail when said brake beams are moved lparallel with the track rail in one direction. y f

8. Railwaybraking apparatus comprising akbraking bar made up of a plurality of aligned brake beams located in the trackway adjacent a track rail and movable parallel with and transversely vwith respect to the track rail, means operatively connected with one of said brake beams-for attimes moving said one brake beam in directions parallel withthe track rail, a plurality of brake vshoe sections, means for attaching said sections to saidlbrake beams in'such manner that adjacent brake beams areconnected ytogether, said shoes serving to transmit mot-ion from said one brake beamte the remaining b-rake beams and also to engage a car wheel when said beams aremoved toward the track rail, and means connected with said .brake beams for moving said brake beams toward the track rail when said beams are moved parallel with said rail in onesdirection.

9. A braking bar for railwaybraking apparatus comprising a plurality of aligned brake beams, and a replaceable brake shoe connectedwith all of said brake beams.

l0. A braking bar for railway Abraking ap paratus comprising a pluralityV of aligned brake beams, and a plurality of brake shoe sections, said sections being attached to said beams in such manner that all of said beams `are connected together by means off'said shoes.

11. A braking bar for railway braking'ap ilo paratus comprising a plurality of aligned Vcomprising a plurality of aligned brake beams supported by said yokes and connected together by a replaceable brake shoe, an intermediateone of said brake beams being provided with a socket,fa crank pivotally supported in the trackway adjacentV said braking bar, a driving link operatively connected at one end with said crank and provided at the other end with a post which enters said socket, means for at times actuating said crank to move said braking bar in directions parallel with said track rail, resilient means effective when said braking bar is moved parallel with said track rail in one direction for moving said braking bar toward said track rail into a braking position, a plurality of wea-ring plates one secured to each of said yokes at the opening therein, and a plurality of hold down bars one extending through the opening in each yoke and each secured to an adjacent brake lbeam in such manner that said hold down bars engage said wearing plates when said braking bar is in its braking position and thereby prevent more than a predetermined amount of vertical displacement of said brake beams.

13. The combination with railway braking apparatus comprising braking bars located in the trackway adjacent the track rails and movable into engagement with the wheels of a carfor retarding the motion of the car, of a guide rail at the leaving end of the apparatus having a substantially vertical surface extending above the tops of the track rails and inclined toward one track rail from `a point adjacent the end of a braking bar associated with said one track rail and also having a substantially horizontal surface extending toward said one track rail from said vertical surface and located a. slight distance below the top of said one track rail.

14. The combination with railway braking apparatus comprising braking bars located in the trackway adjacent the track rails and movable into engagement with the wheels of a car for retarding the mot-ion of the car, of a guide rail at the leaving end of the apparatus having a substantially vertical surface extending above the tops of the track rails and inclined toward one track rail from a point adjacent the end of a. braking bar associated with said one track rail and also' having a substantially horizontal` surface extending toward said one track rail from said vertical surface and located below the top of said one track rail a distance which is slightly less than the depth of a car wheel flange.

l5. The combination with railway braking apparatus comprising braking bars located in the trackway adjacent the track rails and movable into engagement with the wheels of a car for retarding the motion of the car, of a guide rail at the leaving end of the vapparatus having a substantially vertical surface extending above the tops of the track rails Vand inclined toward one track rail from a point adjacent the end of Y a braking bar associated with said one track :ailV and valso having a substantially horizontal surface extending toward said one track rail from said vertical suface and located below thetop of said one track rail a distance which is slightly less than the depth of a'car wheel flange, suiiicient clearance being provided between said guide rail and said one track rail at their closest points to permit the passage of a car wheel flange between said one track rail and said guide rail.

16. The combination with railway braking apparatus comprising braking bars l0- cated in the trackway adjacent the track f rails and movable into engagement with the wheels of a car for retarding the motion of the car, of two guide rails located between the track rails at the leaving end of the apparatus and one associated with each track rail, each guide rail being provided with a substantially vertical surface inclined toward the associated track rail from a point adjacent the end of a contiguous braking bar and extending above the associated track rail, and with a substantially horizonta. surface extending toward the associated track rail from said vertical surface and located a slight distance below the top of the associated track rail, sufficient clearance being provided between each guide rail and the associated track rail to permit the passage of a car wheel flange between such guide rail and the associated track rail.

17. The combination with railway braking apparatus comprising braking bars located in the trackway adjacent the track rails and movable into engagement with the wheels of a car for retarding the motion of the car, of a guide rail located in the trackway adjacent one side of one track rail at the leaving end of the apparatus, said guide rail comprising a first substantially horizontal surface located below the top of said one track rail a distance which is slightly less than the depth of a car wheel flange for receiving car wheels raised from the track rails during the transit of the car through the apparatus, a first substantially vertical surface extending upwardly from said horizontal surface toa point which is above the top of said one track rail and inclined toward said one track rail for engaging the wheels which are received by Vsaid first horizontal surface to positively guide the Wheels of a derailed car onto the rails, and a third substantially vertical surface inclined toward said one track rail from a point beyond the leaving end of the retarder for guiding car wheels entering the apparatus against the normal direction of traiiic, a portion of said guide rail being cut away between said first and second vertical surfaces to a depth which is only slightly below the top of said one track rail to permit the passage of wide locomotive driving wheels between the guide rail and said one track frail; sucent clearance ybeing pro- 4vided btween said guide rail .and said ons track rail at their closestpqnts to permit the passage of a car Wheel ange between sadgude rail and said one track rail. Y f In testimony whereof I a'x my signature.

HERBERT L. BONE. 

